


Just A Name

by aban_ataashi



Series: A Little Bit Of Sunlight (Desta's Story) [7]
Category: Pillars of Eternity
Genre: Gen, identity theft is no joke Magnus, just a silly idea about one of the adventurers i made and how he met Desta, weekly prompt fill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-26
Updated: 2019-07-26
Packaged: 2020-07-19 23:37:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19982440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aban_ataashi/pseuds/aban_ataashi
Summary: Magnus had been a lot of different things in his life. But he had never been a Watcher before.





	Just A Name

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! This one is prompt fill for PoE Weekly Prompts #98, Reputation, featuring one of the adventurers I made and how he came to know the Watcher. Enjoy!

Magnus had never been a Watcher before.

He’d been quite a few things in his travels. Each self-given title had its ups and downs. Fortune-teller was a good one for making some coin. He’d always had a talent for telling people what they wanted to hear, and as long as the locals weren’t too superstitious, it was relatively conflict-free.

Being a priest was easy- his face did the half job already, and all he had to do was spout off a few prayers to Berath. Not as much fun, usually, but useful. Authorities didn’t question holy workers quite as much as they did magicians and street tricksters, and he could always count on faithful civilians to make a place for him at their dinner table.

In his brief time in the Republics, he’d even been a Cipher. That one was the hardest, despite being the truth. People _expected_ things of Ciphers, as if being born with these powers meant Magnus owed the world some sort of special service. But Magnus had no intention of being anybody’s lackey- or worse, their science experiment.

And besides, Magnus liked the act of weaving together a new story for himself with each town he visited. It kept things interesting. And this new title of _Watcher_ that was buzzing in the minds of the Dyrwoodans was nothing if not interesting.

It began in a town on the northwest border of the Dyrwood. Magnus had been moving through the streets, trying to keep a low profile. He hadn’t decided just yet who he would be in this new country. From the surface thoughts he gathered in the town square, anything resembling animancy was out of the question. There was a strong Berathian following here- perhaps he should dust off that old story…

“The Watcher!” someone nearby gasped, and suddenly Magnus was surrounded by a group of wide-eyed onlookers.

“You are the Watcher, aren’t you?” The man who spoke approached tentatively. “We don’t get too many godlike in these parts. But we heard about what you did!”

Magnus hesitated. He didn’t know what in the world a Watcher was supposed to be, but the words weren’t hostile. In fact, the man was staring down at him with something close to awe. Gathering himself into a confident stance, Magnus strode forward and grasped the man’s hand in greeting.

As their skin made contact, the man’s thoughts increased from shadowy whispers to full memories, crisp and clear. _A rumor- no, a legend. The hero of Gilded Vale. The foreigner who stormed Raedric’s castle and slew the awful tyrant. The godlike who reads your soul with a glance. The Watcher._

It all flashed through Magnus’s mind in an instant, and he grinned. “Aye, my friend. I’m the Watcher.”

The façade was not foolproof, of course. It wasn’t maintaining the illusion of Watcher abilities that caused trouble. Most of the backwood locals wouldn’t be able to tell a cipher from a Watcher given a million years.

But Magnus had to be careful of where he traveled. He couldn’t follow directly in this Watcher’s trail- nobody who had met the genuine thing would be fooled for an instant. But he had to stay in their shadow, close enough that rumors of great deeds had reached people who were only too happy to show their gratitude in gifts and lodging.

Over time, he picked up a bit more information, although it was hard even for him to separate the truth from the exaggerations. _The Watcher is a giant_ , they said, which was inconvenient because Magnus stood just under five feet, but at least his horns gave him the impression of being taller. _The Watcher is a mighty warrior_ , they said, and Magnus carried a sword to look the part while explaining that he’d recently had an unfortunate injury and could not give a demonstration of his skills. _The Watcher is green_ , they said, and Magnus lost his patience and gave their memories a mental push until they said _No, wait, I heard the Watcher is purple after all_.

It was more work than Magnus usually put into a story, but it was worth it. Because whoever this Watcher was, they were earning the love of people in every corner of the Dyrwood. They drove away bandits and settled restless spirits and killed all manner of beasts. They were a hero, according to the stories, although Magnus very much doubted they were as noble and benevolent in real life.

But he wasn’t going to be the one to tell the villagers that. So long as the Watcher was a hero, Magnus was, too.

“Please! You have to help!”

Magnus cringed and pulled away from the woman. This was his own damn fault- he’d lingered in this village too long, enjoying the welcome and generosity he hadn’t earned. Now he was expected to earn it.

His weak excuses about an injury were ignored. “You just have to find her! She’s so young, she can’t have wandered far, you just have to find her before nightfall! Before-” the woman’s words dissolved into a choked sob, but her thoughts screamed loudly enough for Magnus to understand. _A little girl, lost in the woods, at night, it gets so cold, the spiders come out when it gets dark, why did she go by herself?_

Damn it all, why did it have to be a kid?

Magnus sighed, knowing he was going to regret this later. “I’ll take a look, okay?”

The woman beamed through her tears, hope blooming in her mind. “Oh, thank you!”

“Don’t mention it,” Magnus grumbled. “Apparently, it’s what I do.”

Best case scenario, Magnus would find the kid and drag her home before night fell. Then he would hightail it out of this village before anybody asked him to do anything else.

Worst case scenario, he’d get eaten by spiders tonight. Magnus was trying not to think too hard on that one.

The distraught mother seemed to think Magnus would be able to track her daughter using Watcher sense or some such nonsense. Magnus wasn’t sure that was how it worked, but he hoped that sweeping the forest for any trace of the girl’s mind would suffice. When he finally caught track of some thoughts, however, they were not those of a frightened child.

_Searching. Worried. Child in danger, fraud out here somewhere. Wait is that-_

And then a wall went up, strong and solid. Magnus could still sense a presence, but the actual thoughts were blocked. He had just enough time to worry about what that meant when suddenly his path through the woods was blocked by a towering woman with leaves on her skin and a mace in her hand.

“Ah, there you are,” she said with a grin. “I’ve been looking forward to meeting you.”

“And who are you?” Magnus asked nervously, although even without his cipher powers he already knew.

“I’m the Watcher of Caed Nua.”

The Watcher- or Desta, as she later introduced herself- did not immediately smash Magnus with her mace, for which he was grateful. But that didn’t mean she was happy with him.

“How long did you think you could away with this for?” she demanded as they traipsed through the woods. “You had to know eventually someone would figure out you’re not me.”

“Why, because you’re a six-foot tall woman who looks like a tree and I’m a dwarf-blooded man with death-face?” Magnus waved his hand dismissively. “People see what they want to see. I didn’t even have to do that much persuading.”

“You mean brainwashing,” Desta corrected crossly. “Which is a horrible thing to do to people. And what I meant was you’re clearly not equipped to do the sort of things I do. You had to expect your lies to catch up with you.”

Magnus shrugged. “This may shock you, but I don’t typically plan that far ahead. I was just hoping you’d be too busy slaying dragons and whatnot to track me down.”

Desta wasn’t amused. “You’re right about one thing- I’m very busy these days. Which is why it’s especially irritating to hear that someone is going around trying to profit off of my name.”

“Ah, it’s just a name,” Magnus said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “There’s plenty of those to go around. But if it’s any consolation, you can keep it from now on. Being an adventurer is all well and good when you’re in a tavern and people are buying you drinks. Actually adventuring is not my style.”

“Then why are you here?” Desta eyed Magnus thoughtfully, and for a moment he wondered if she was doing her Watcher-soul-reading thing on him. “Is this still part of the act?”

For once, Magnus didn’t have quick retort. He just shrugged again. “A kid’s missing. I’ll own up to being a lying bastard, but I’m not a complete scumbag.”

Desta made a contemplative _hmm_ , then peered up at the sky. “Speaking of, it’s starting to get dark. Are you sure we’re heading in the right direction?”

Magnus nodded. “I don’t know souls, but I know minds. Hers is close by.”

An hour later, Magnus and Desta emerged from the cave, the rescued little girl sleeping soundly in Desta’s arms as Magnus trailed behind and tried to shake the spider blood off his boots. He’d been uninvolved in the actual fighting, thankfully, but Desta hadn’t been very considerate of his attire when slaughtering the things.

As they neared the edge of the village, Magnus stopped and gave Desta a small bow. “This is where I take my leave. Don’t worry- I’ve had enough of being a Watcher. You won’t have to worry about me again.”

“Hold on, there!” Desta said quickly, and Magnus winced. He’d been hoping to make a quick and graceful exit, but he should have known that wouldn’t happen. “I haven’t decided if I’m letting you go.”

“What’s the alternative?” Magnus asked, trying not so sound nervous. He didn’t _think_ Desta was likely to try and kill him, but he still couldn’t get into her mind to be sure.

In answer, the Watcher turned and stared at him with an expression that soon grew distant and blank. Magnus frowned and shifted awkwardly on his feet as he waited. Was this what Watcher stuff was supposed to look like? He hadn’t taken the ‘reading souls’ thing too seriously before- now he wondered just what it was Desta saw. His personality? His past?

Whatever it was Desta saw, she didn’t say. She simply blinked a few times, regained her senses, and patted Magnus on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to hurt you. I suppose I could try to arrest you, but you’d just bust out of jail, wouldn’t you?”

Magnus was surprised by her joking tone, but he wasn’t going to complain. “Heh. I do have some experience with jailbreaks.”

“I know.” Desta tilted her head, thinking. “You can leave, if you wish. But no more pretending to be me. And…I think you should come back to the village with us, and tell the people the truth.”

 _That_ made Magnus laugh. “Thanks, but I’ve been run out of enough towns. I prefer a quiet disappearance.”

“People can surprise you. You did help with the rescue mission, after all.”

She actually sounded like she believed it, but still Magnus shook his head. “I think I’ve just about worn out the Dyrwood’s welcome. Time for me to be moving on.”

Desta looked disappointed, but she didn’t offer any further protests. “I won’t stop you, I suppose. But if you’re tired of traveling, there’s always room at Caed Nua. And you won’t even have to lie about who you are.”

“I…” Magnus wanted to tell this woman that she was crazy, that being able to lie about himself was a good thing. That the world was already hard enough for godlikes and hard enough for ciphers and hard enough for runaways, and why would anyone want to be all three at the same time if they didn’t have to?

Instead, he said, “I’ll consider it.” Because, hey. Free food. Free lodging. Who was he to pass that up? “But later. First, you need to get Shorty here back to her mom.”

After bidding Desta farewell, Magnus turned to the north, pondering his next destination. Perhaps he’d visit Caed Nua eventually, but for now it was time to take his leave of the Dyrwood. The choice felt right, but it did leave him in an unfortunate position. It would be a few days journey to the border, and with winter setting in he would want a nice place to rest soon.

And the next village over already knew him as the Watcher, kind and protective defender of the Dyrwood. On more night of the masquerade wouldn’t hurt.

After all, it really was just a name.


End file.
